Ebook The Short Story in English

In the first place, it must be admitted that the follow ing pages betray a preoccupation' with the short story, so much so, indeed, that certain chapters may suggest the robin who saw only earthworms on the field of Gettysburg. I have applied, whenever possible, such remedy as a careful relating of the stories under discussion to other literature could afford. If space had permitted, I would have gone further afield. Yet it is not to be forgotten that when earthworms are desired, a certain narrow-mindedness is almost indispensable! Next, I must apologize for what I hope is only an appearance of evil. Such a book as this moves insensibly towards the doctrinaire. Much of its field is new, un ploughed, unfenced, almost unsurveyed. Tale must be classed with tale, or a difference set between them, and lines of development must be run from story-group to story-group; otherwise, the material unearthed by reading and study, and exhibited in the completed work, will remain unfit for assimilation, unplaced in literary history. For all this, theories are necessary, and much talk about the theoretical. Nevertheless, in establishing my theories, I have tried to keep footing upon a solid base of observed fact.